Generally, a laundry treatment apparatus is a generic term for an apparatus that washes laundry (e.g. objects to be washed or objects to be dried), an apparatus that dries laundry, and an apparatus that may perform both washing and drying of laundry.
Conventional laundry treatment apparatuses are classified into front loading type laundry treatment apparatuses configured such that laundry is introduced through an introduction opening formed in the front surface of the apparatus, and top loading type laundry treatment apparatuses configured such that laundry is introduced through an introduction opening formed in the upper surface of the apparatus.
A top loading type laundry treatment apparatus includes a cabinet, a tub provided inside the cabinet and having an introduction opening in the upper surface thereof, a drum rotatably provided inside the tub, and a door for opening and closing the introduction opening.
In the conventional laundry treatment apparatus having the configuration described above, the tub is fixed inside the cabinet using a tub support unit. However, a conventional tub support unit cannot effectively prevent the tub from vibrating in the height direction of the cabinet.
In addition, some conventional laundry treatment apparatuses are devised to have a minimum volume in order to wash only a very small amount of laundry. Such a laundry treatment apparatus having a minimum volume has the feature of a very small distance between the introduction opening and the upper end of the drum. Therefore, impurities, which are generated inside the tub when the drum is rotated to wash laundry, remain on the door.
In addition, the conventional laundry treatment apparatus having a minimum volume makes it difficult to provide the tub with a heater for increasing the efficiency of washing.
In particular, in the case where the conventional laundry treatment apparatus is of a top loading type, the heater must be provided on the bottom surface of the tub. However, it may be difficult to acquire sufficient space for the provision of the heater.
In addition, the conventional laundry treatment apparatus has a problem in that the space for receiving the heater therein and a member for fixing the tub to the cabinet may not be injection molded using the same mold.
In addition, in the conventional laundry treatment apparatus, water is not supplied to the heater, which problematically causes overheating of the heater.
In addition, the conventional laundry treatment apparatus having a minimum volume has a narrow space between the bottom surface of the drum and the bottom surface of the tub, which may cause damage to the heater due to the rotation of the drum.